Necessity is the Mother of Invention
Reading Time: 5 minutes
by Dana Benner
Follow Dana’s no, or low-cost, environmentally friendly fixes for what you have, with what you have or can easily obtain and find inspiration for upcycling old items.
Let’s face it; we live in a throwaway society. Things aren’t meant to last as long as they used to, and manufacturers don’t want you to fix them. Manufacturers are counting on you to just throw in the towel and purchase a new product. While we can’t fix everything ourselves, there are some fixes we can do that’ll help both the environment and our wallets at the same time.
What Can We Do?
Things usually break at times when it’s not possible to run to the store. When you can go to the store, you often can’t find what you need, or the cost is way out of your budget. Many times, we can fix things at no cost if we just try. How many of us have coffee cans full of nuts, bolts, washers, and screws? What about lumber of various sizes, as well as scrap sheet metal? With those items, we can fix just about anything.
Wheelbarrow Handles
After years of use, the wooden handles on my wheelbarrow finally gave out. I went to the local supply store and nearly dropped dead when I saw the price for replacement handles. Instead of giving in, I decided to make my own. I found two discarded 2x4s and, using the old handles as a template, I took my drawknife and made my own. The bolts holding it all together needed to be replaced, so I reached into that coffee can and I found all the nuts, bolts, and washers I needed. By using recycled lumber and hardware, I was able to get the job done at no cost to me.
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
When I got my new canoe, it opened the door to areas inaccessible to me. Traveling to remote areas often meant lugging the canoe and gear down some less-than-ideal trails. Though the canoe is light, I often had to make multiple trips to get all my gear to the launch site. I needed a way to transport my canoe, my gear, and my daily catch back and forth to my truck in a more efficient manner. I needed a wheeled canoe carrier of some sort.
My friend found an old bicycle trailer that’d been used to haul kids behind a bicycle. It was being thrown away, so he picked it up and showed it to me. That’s when the proverbial light went on in my head. Essentially, it’s nothing more than a tubular frame with bicycle wheels. The width was perfect, giving the canoe room to rest without rubbing on the wheels. To make it do the job required just a little work.
Once the seat and the tow arm were removed, I found that there wasn’t much work left to be done. Another friend had some of those foam “swimming noodles” that he was throwing away. I grabbed them, cut them down to size, and used them to cover the metal parts of the frame that would touch the canoe. The canoe slid easily up and onto the noodles and, with a few tie-downs, the canoe rested securely in place. The perfect tool for the job. At the end of the day, this project solved my problem and kept a bunch of junk out of the landfill. The total cost to me was zero.
I needed a water catchment system, but the prices made me think twice. In reality, you can make one for little or no cost. There really isn’t much to them: a container, some plumbing, and a way to get the water into the container and out to the garden.
The container issue was solved when my friend found me a Biograde-plastic pickle barrel that was being thrown away. Water to the barrel would be achieved by some reworking of the gutters on my house. Water transfer to the garden would be made with spare plumbing parts and a garden hose. While this project took a little effort, it was made entirely from discarded materials.
Around the Home
What do you do when your washer, dryer, oven, or any other appliance breaks? While common sense says “fix it,” more often than not we either call a repairperson or purchase a new one. Don’t do it! With a little thought and effort you can probably do the fix yourself and save yourself hundreds of dollars in the process.
Recently I had a burner go out on our electric stove. Using a voltmeter, I found that the stove problem was a faulty connector. The thing about connectors is that they aren’t all the same. Finding the right one for the job is the trick. Luckily, in my can of spare electrical parts, I found one that would work, complete with new/old wiring. I had the job completed in one day.
Finding the Materials
The materials for doing these and other projects are all around us. People are constantly throwing away lumber, metal, and other useable materials. Before I throw anything away, I try to find alternative uses for it. Repurposing saves me money.
Construction areas and even the dump are great sources for scrap lumber and even plumbing and electrical parts. No matter where you collect your materials, make sure you get permission to take them. There are many opportunities to collect needed materials, but no 2×4 is worth getting into trouble.
Put on Your Thinking Cap
Thinking outside the box has always been the name of the game if you want to live this lifestyle, but in this day and age, it’s become even more important. Prices for everything continue to rise, so any way you can save some money is a good thing. Fixing what you have, with what you have or can easily obtain, not only will solve the issue at hand, but will save you money and the environment at the same time.
Dana Benner has been writing about all aspects of the outdoors, homesteading, gardening, and history for over 35 years with his work appearing in regional, national, and international publications, both in print and online.
Originally published in the September/October 2025 issue of Countryside and Small Stock Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.
